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The third molars have long been known as your “wisdom teeth,” because they are the last teeth to erupt from the gums – usually sometime during the late teens to early twenties. This is a time in life that many consider an “age of wisdom”; hence the term, “wisdom teeth.”

Extracting the third molars does not have any effect on your actual wisdom … and Dr. Maryam Azadpur and our staff are sorry to say that holding on to them can’t make you smarter, either. So if you somehow feel that you became wiser and smarter when your wisdom teeth appeared, chalk it up to age rather than teeth.

In fact, you may just be showing how smart you are by having your wisdom teeth removed. Mankind once relied on the wisdom teeth to replace teeth that were damaged or missing, thanks to a poor diet. But dietary changes and advances in modern dentistry make it possible for many people to hold on to their teeth for many decades, which eliminated the need for third molars.

For many people, wisdom teeth cause nothing but problems: becoming impacted, irritating surrounding gum tissue, or even causing other teeth to become crooked or overlap. By removing them, patients often enjoy a lower risk of decay, infection, and aesthetic complications.

So rest assured that extracting your wisdom teeth will have no effect on your immediate or long-term intelligence.

The primary teeth are the initial teeth that erupt from a child’s gums in the first few years of childhood. There are a total of 20 primary teeth, most of which will have appeared no later than age three. Because they are only temporary, some parents believe they are less important than the permanent teeth that will emerge around age five or six. However, primary teeth hold a special significance and are important for a child’s long-term oral health.

Function and importance of baby teeth

Baby teeth have several basic functions. Decay can interfere with these functions, and potentially lead to life-long complications. For example, severe tooth decay that causes tooth loss during childhood, perhaps due to sleeping with a bottle at night, can obstruct a child’s speech development. It can also hinder his or her ability to sufficiently chew food.

The primary teeth also serve as place-holders for the permanent teeth. When a primary tooth falls out or must be removed before its time, surrounding teeth may shift into the space the tooth once held. This can cause orthodontic complications once the permanent teeth begin to erupt, which can lead to serious tooth alignment problems and call for extensive orthodontic treatment.

Caring for baby teeth

Dr. Maryam Azadpur and our team at Simsbury Pediatric & Adolescent Dentistry will tell you it is never too early to begin caring for your child’s teeth. Baby teeth require the same care and attention that permanent teeth do. The American Dental Association recommends that children see a dentist as soon as the teeth begin to erupt from the gums. Early childhood dental visits usually include examinations, cleanings, fluoride treatments, and hygiene education for parents. It is also important to adopt an oral care routine at home that includes daily brushing, flossing, and dietary modifications that support a lifetime of good oral health.

To learn more about baby teeh, or to schedule an appointment with Dr. Maryam Azadpur for your little one, please give us a call at our convenient Simsbury, CT office!

School’s out for the summer, and it’s great to have the kids home. After all, they deserve a break after all their hard work. And you want to keep their vacation happy, relaxing, and fun—without letting them spend those summer months cooling off with sugary treats. What are some of your options for healthy hot weather snacks?

• Naturally Sweet Treats

Keep a supply of fresh fruit handy for summer snacking. Crispy fruits like apples and Bosc pears actually provide a little scrubbing action for the teeth with their vitamins, and softer fruits such as bananas, berries, and, of course, watermelon, provide natural sweetness along with vitamins and minerals. Yogurt has valuable calcium for strong teeth and the vitamin D our bodies need to use that calcium. Add some fresh fruit to Greek yogurt for added flavor and sweetness—and even more vitamins.

• Savory Snacks

Cheese is a calcium-rich snack, and crunchy carrots and celery help scrub teeth while providing vitamins and minerals. Do a little mixing and matching by adding some cream cheese to that celery for extra flavor. Serve up hummus and pita chips or cheese with whole grain crackers. They’re great nutritious alternatives to chips and dip.

• Blender Blast

Summer’s the perfect time to use your culinary creativity and expand your child’s palate with vitamin-rich smoothies. Toss your favorite fruits in the blender with a little juice, non-fat yogurt, milk, or honey, whirl away, and you have a delicious, healthy snack. You can add a few leafy greens for even more nutritional value. There are many easy recipes online for creating homemade smoothies that will please any picky palate.

• Freezer Favorites

Ice cream is a favorite summer treat, but it can also provide quite a sugar punch. There are many homemade frozen yogurt recipes available online which combine frozen fruit, yogurt, and honey for your own summer celebration, without adding large amounts of sugar. Or choose to stock your freezer shelves with low-sugar fruit pops, store bought or homemade.

• On Tap

A soda or a sports drink are often the go-to hydration choices in the summer. You might already be careful about handing these drinks out because they can have such a high sugar content. But they can also create a very acidic environment in the mouth, which is harmful to tooth enamel. Water is the safest, healthiest option for hydrating in hot weather, and can even provide some of the fluoride which helps keep enamel strong.

Whatever is on your child’s summer menu, keep up with all those great dental habits you’ve already established. A limited number of snacks—even healthy ones—is best, and be sure to brush after snacking, or rinse with water if brushing’s not an option. And don’t forget to maintain your child’s normal schedule of brushing and flossing, and regular visits with Dr. Maryam Azadpur at our Simsbury, CT office.

Have a great summer, and send your kids back to school rested, relaxed, and with a healthy, happy smile. Then take a moment, relax, and sip that smoothie—after all, you deserve a break after all your hard work!

“Not only is the care child-friendly, the dental procedures are gentle, yet effective, preventative and virtually painless, but the office staff is top notch as well. When my medically complex child needed a procedure that needed to be expedited due to upcoming surgery, the whole office came together to made it work.”

As summer approaches, our practice is gearing up for a busy season. Some of us have trips planned while others plan to take staycations, lazy beach days, day trips, or home improvement projects to fill the days until the fall season arrives.

After we take a little break once the school year ends, we will hit the ground running! Our summer calendar is practically full right now. We will see many of our college aged kids while they are home and work around various camps, trips, and job schedules.

Being at a pediatric office means there is no decrease in scheduling in the summer. In fact, the slowest weeks are the first and last weeks of school! We maintain overdue and Short Notice lists so we can call when openings occur. And we encourage families to book their next appointments before they leave the office after their visit.

We know that Summer is a time to relax and let loose but that doesn’t mean your oral health should suffer. Here are some tips we recommend:

• During the summer, we see an increase in oral health issues due to outdoor activities, which can lead to more accidents. Please remember to wear sports guards and avoid running on pool decks.
• For those traveling, it's easy to forget to pack floss. Remember to pack it in addition to your toothbrush and toothpaste to maintain good oral hygiene on vacation.
• Instead of sugary frozen treats, we recommend healthy summer snacks like watermelon. While it contains natural sugars, it's still important to brush your teeth afterward. Drinking plenty of water will also help keep things clean and cool.

We will maintain normal business hours during the summer but will be closed July 3-4 to celebrate Independence Day. As we mentioned previously, we’ve recently begun offering expanders in-office, eliminating the need for separate orthodontist visits. We hope that this can be convenient one-stop shopping for our patients.

We are so excited to welcome Dr. Mitra Marvasti-Sitterly to our team! Dr. Marvasti has been seeing patients here on some of our Saturdays during the school year and will join us full-time on August 11 after completing her pediatric dental residency at the University of Connecticut. We look forward to having her here and getting to know our families. She is already a wonderful addition to our team!